The measures proposed to Brussels by Google fall far short of the envisioned structural sell-off that both the Commission and its American counterpart envisioned as a solution to Google’s distortion of competition in the online advertising sector.
They also largely echo the proposals Google submitted to the U.S. federal court overseeing an ad tech case brought by the Donald Trump, where it, too, proposed a mix of behavioral fixes.
Closing arguments in that trial will begin on Monday and, if Google is to be compelled to break itself up, it would most likely be in the United States. The Commission has never imposed structural remedies and faces a high legal bar for doing so, according to legal experts.
As viewed by Google’s critics, this time it could be different, as a so-called behavioral set of commitments, consisting of technical tweaks, may not be sufficient.
“The only credible solution is a forced divestment of part of Google’s advertising business – anything else is just window dressing,” said Max von Thun, of the Open Markets Institute.
“In the case of Google, behavioural remedies have always failed,” he said. The Commission imposed remedies in its 2017 Google Shopping decision that have been widely viewed as ineffective.
This story has been updated.
